hello i'm carl nasman. israel has closed a checkpoint along one of the key aid routes into gaza, after a hamas rocket attack killed three israeli soldiers on sunday. hours later, palestinian health officials said at least 16 people were killed in a separate israeli airstrike on rafah, gaza's southernmost city. earlier on sunday, hamas left negotiations in cairo aimed at reaching a ceasefire deal — after israel's prime minister rejected hamas�* demands to completely end the war. meanwhile, israel's government ordered qatari broadcaster aljazeera to close its operations in israel, accusing it of �*incitement�* and of threatening national security. aljazeera denies the claims. from jerusalem, our security correpsondent frank gardner reports. in a country that prides itself on free speech and democracy, israeli police shut down the offices

of aljazeera today, seizing its broadcast equipment. if you are watching this pre—recorded report, then aljazeera has been banned in the territory of israel. this was one of its final broadcasts from jerusalem before the police arrived. the government accused the qatar—based tv channel of incitement to terrorism, calling it a mouthpiece for hamas. its bureau chief called it a dangerous move. israel cannot claim all the time that it is a democracy, and at the same time they are cutting, and preventing the journalists to do theirjob. meanwhile, down on the gaza border, close to rafah, a deadly rocket attack by hamas, on the very crossing point through which it was hoped more aid could flow into the territory. it has since been shut. at least three israeli soldiers were killed. today, israel's embattled prime minister reacted

to the demands for a permanent ceasefire and an israel withdrawal from gaza. "the state of israel is not willing to accept this," he said, capitulating to the demands of hamas would be a terrible defeat for israel. but the government here is under pressure from parts of its own population. last night, tens of thousands of israelis rallied in protest at delays in getting the hostages out of gaza. they don't believe the government is making it a priority. the israeli government wants its hostages out but at the same time it has vowed to destroy hamas, which is why it will not agree to a permanent ceasefire. but hamas, which holds the hostages, says it won't sign a deal unless the ceasefire is permanent, which is why the peace talks have stalled. a delegation from hamas hasjust been in cairo talking to mediators. they have now left to consult with their leadership. in gaza, the war continues, with airstrikes and deprivation.

gazans are desperate for this war to end. so, too, are many israelis. but others in israel see this as unfinished business. they want this war pursued until hamas is utterly destroyed. frank gardner, bbc news, jerusalem. israel says that it will only agree to a temporary ceasefire — and that it will go ahead with a military assault on rafah to destroy hamas. the united nations has repeatedly warned that a planned israeli invasion of rafah risks causing many more civilian deaths. around 1.4 million palestinians are sheltering there — many of them have been evacuated from other parts of gaza. special correspondent fergal keane has more on the crisis people in rafah are facing. a warning — that his report contains scenes you may find distressing. the story of desperate need, told in a single line. stretching on the road to rafah.

this is the queue on the egyptian side of the border. rafah is both the hub through which most of gaza's aid passes... ..and now home to nearly 1.5 million people — five times its original population. a place where hospitals have become refugee camps. where no living space is wasted. the wards where families cook. where their children roam the corridors of a place that is — for now — safe. 11—year—old yasin al—galban is, according to his mother, surviving on painkillers. here, the brutal truth of the war is etched on the faces of its young victims. the fear is that this is what awaits rafah if an invasion is ordered. in the coalition government, the far right finance minister opposes any deal that would spare rafah in return for israeli hostages.

"there's no half work. rafah, nuseirat, deiral balah. absolute destruction," says bezalel smotrich. the israelis say there are four hamas battalions in rafah to be destroyed, with or without a ceasefire. the un is making plans for more field hospitals, but warns it won't stop a disaster. it will not avoid what we expect will be substantial additional mortality and morbidity. a lot more people dying? a lot more people dying, a lot more death and a lot more diseases. this is where utter destruction leads. people who've lost their homes, forced to camp next to graves. rahab abudacah is the mother of seven children. she described some of the horrors she and her children have witnessed. she points to a grave covered in bricks and explains the grim

reason for this. translation: yesterday, | there was a grave, and there were no rocks above it. and the family came and they found that the dogs ate part of the body. they were forced to put bricks on his grave to protect him from the dogs. from ten at night to dawn, we cannot sleep because of the sound of the dogs. at night, our children keep holding on to me because of how scared they are. there is intense pressure for a ceasefire deal now. without it, there's only foreboding. the dread of what comes next. fergal keane, bbc news, jerusalem. while orthodox christians in russia and ukraine celebrated easter on sunday — a russian assault

killed two people in ukraine's eastern donetsk region. moscow also says its forces seized a village in the region — the latest in a string of small territorial gains. separately, drone and bomb attacks on the northeastern city of kharkiv injured 1a people. in his easter address, ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy urged ukrainians to be united and called god an ally in the war. at least 75 people are dead and tens of thousands have been forced to leave their homes in brazil after devastating floods tore through the southern state, of rio grande do sul. people are being rescued by helicopter and the state's governor says the devastation is unprecedented. the bbc�*sjon donnison has the story. much of brazil's most southerly state is under water. roads turned into rivers and tens of thousands of people forced to flee their homes. translation: now, when i'm being rescued, i feel relieved, | but it's terrifying because we saw the water rise in an absurd way. it rose at a very high speed.

after a week of storms and heavy rain at least half a million people are without power and clean water. translation: i need a lot of help — a lot. we have nowhere to sleep and nothing to eat. we have nothing. and the very young are being impacted, too. this tiny baby had to be winched to safety by helicopter. many of those who died were killed by landslides. and at least two people lost their lives when the floods caused an explosion at a petrol station in port alegre. president lula da silva visited the region for the second time this week to see the damage for himself. brazil's military has been brought in to help with the rescue effort and to distribute aid. the extreme weather has been caused by a rare combination of hotter—than—average temperatures, high humidity and strong winds. and forecasters say it's not over yet. jon donnison, bbc news.

let's turn now to the fall out from the local elections in england. the former home secretary suella braverman says the conservative party could be wiped out in a general election — and has urged the prime minister to change course and swing to the right — after its poor showing in this week's votes for local councils and mayors. the tories lost more than a70 council seats and all—but—one mayoral election in england. but defending the government, mark harper, the transport secretary, said it's still all to play for in the run up to the general election. here's our deputy political editor vicky young. across england and wales, labour won in style. mayors... councils... and labour won in style. mayors... councils... and police labour won in style. mayors... councils... and police and crime commissioners. it was a terrible set of results for the conservatives — one of the few bright spots, a victory for their mayor in the tees valley. the former home secretary, no fan of the prime minister's, warned today that the party

faced a wipe—out at the general election, but there was no point ousting him now. rishi sunak has — point ousting him now. rishi sunak has been _ point ousting him now. rishi sunak has been leading - point ousting him now. rishi sunak has been leading us l point ousting him now. 1131 sunak has been leading us for about 18 months. he's been making these decisions. these are the consequences of those decisions. he needs to own this. and therefore, he needs to fix it. �* , ., to fix it. and, these are her suggestions- _ to fix it. and, these are her suggestions. he _ to fix it. and, these are her suggestions. he needs- to fix it. and, these are her suggestions. he needs to l suggestions. he needs to actually lower _ suggestions. he needs to actually lower taxes - suggestions. he needs to actually lower taxes in . suggestions. he needs to actually lower taxes in a i suggestions. he needs to i actually lower taxes in a way that people will feel — not tweaking around the edges. if he's serious about migration, he's serious about migration, he needs to put a cap on legal migration. he needs to take us out of the european convention on human rights. that's how you actually send the message that he's serious about stopping the boats. ., ., ., , ., boats. not all tories agree. after his — boats. not all tories agree. after his defeat, _ boats. not all tories agree. after his defeat, the - boats. not all tories agree. after his defeat, the now. after his defeat, the now former mayor of the west midlands, andy street, urged the party to stick to the centre ground. ministers insist they're already acting decisively.— they're already acting decisivel . ~ . ., , ., they're already acting decisivel . ~ . ., ., decisively. we have a plan and the lan decisively. we have a plan and the plan is _ decisively. we have a plan and the plan is working. _ decisively. we have a plan and the plan is working. but - decisively. we have a plan and j the plan is working. but voters are telling _ the plan is working. but voters are telling you _ the plan is working. but voters are telling you that _ the plan is working. but voters are telling you that they - the plan is working. but voters are telling you that they don'tl are telling you that they don't like it — are telling you that they don't like it. �* �* ., ., like it. but we're not all the way through _ like it. but we're not all the way through yet. _ like it. but we're not all the way through yet. you've - like it. but we're not all the | way through yet. you've got like it. but we're not all the i way through yet. you've got to see... i think that people want to see delivery, right. then want to continue to see inflation coming down. then

want to see the boats stop. they want to see, for example, nhs waiting lists continue to fall. we've made a lot of progress on that, but we're not all of the way there yet. labour did see a drop in support in some areas where there's anger about its stance on the war in gaza. i there's anger about its stance on the war in gaza.— on the war in gaza. i do acknowledge _ on the war in gaza. i do acknowledge that - on the war in gaza. i do acknowledge that in - on the war in gaza. i do i acknowledge that in some on the war in gaza. i if acknowledge that in some parts of the country, that that was the case. and there will be some people who maybe voted labour in the past who haven't in the local elections, because of this issue. and where that's the case, we'll work to get people's support a back. but overall, i do have to stress — these were tremendous local election results.— these were tremendous local election results. rishi sunak's fiercest critics _ election results. rishi sunak's fiercest critics seem _ election results. rishi sunak's fiercest critics seem to - election results. rishi sunak's fiercest critics seem to have i fiercest critics seem to have decided against an attempt to drive him out of here. but that doesn't mean the criticism will stop. around the world and across the uk. this is bbc news. let's look at some another story making the headlines. with only a few hours left until nominations to replace humza yousaf as leader for the scottish national party — there

are suggestions of a late entry to the race. at the momentjohn swinney, the former deputy first minister and party leader, is the only person officially in the running, but veteran party activist — graeme mccormack says he believes he can garner enough nominations by monday's deadline. jenni davidson explains. it's unlikely that this is actually going to be a serious issue for him. but what it does mean for the party is that it would cause the leadership contest to go on for another few weeks. if there was only one nomination in tomorrow by 12 noon, the deadline, if it wasjohn swinney, then he would simply be declared party leader by tomorrow afternoon. but if there's more than one nomination, then it has to go to a vote of party members. mr swinney has said he is "physically and mentally ready" for the role, after he decided not to stand in the 2023 leadership contest. you're live with bbc news. let's turn to some important news around the world.

china's president xi jinping has arrived in france on a state visit — his first trip to an eu country in five years. global conflicts are expected to feature highly when mr xi meets french president macron and the head of the eu commission, ursula von der leyen, later on monday. france is expected to urge china to pressure russia to end its war against ukraine. a 17—year—old has handed himself into police in germany after an attack on a european parliament member. the teenager said he knocked down matthias ecke, a member of germany's main governing social democratic party, as he hung posters. police said mr ecke was seriously injured and required an operation. rhe english actor bernard hill, best known for roles in titanic and lord of the rings, has died aged 79. he played captain edward smith in the 1997 oscar—winning film, and king theoden in the famous peterjackson trilogy. hill was due to return to tv screens in series two of the bbc drama �*the responder.�*

it's been a staple of breakfast tables and cafes across france for generations — we are talking about the humble croissant. now bakers in paris are challenging tradition — and addressing climate change — by making the pastry without using butter. here's our paris correspondent andrew harding. the french, as we know, take their food and all its traditions seriously. almost like a religion. so, what to make of this...? in a paris bakery, something close to sacrilege. it's a croissant made entirely without butter. like everything else on sale here. the baker responsible says his vegan business is booming. flakey?- says his vegan business is i booming. flakey?- one says his vegan business is booming. flakey? yes. one small ortion of

booming. flakey? yes. one small portion of a _ booming. flakey? yes. one small portion of a much _ booming. flakey? yes one small portion of a much bigger struggle to shake up french food culture and to address climate change. irate food culture and to address climate change.— food culture and to address climate change. we have to ada -t a climate change. we have to adapt a little _ climate change. we have to adapt a little bit _ climate change. we have to adapt a little bit french - climate change. we have to i adapt a little bit french food. but it must be a steep mountain to climb in a country like france. at to climb in a country like france-— to climb in a country like| france._ very france. a lot, a lot. very difficult? _ france. a lot, a lot. very difficult? yes, _ france. a lot, a lot. very difficult? yes, very- france. a lot, a lot. very i difficult? yes, very difficult. but it is changing. _ difficult? yes, very difficult. but it is changing. but i difficult? yes, very difficult. but it is changing. but that. but it is changing. but that chance but it is changing. but that change is _ but it is changing. but that change is messy. - but it is changing. but that change is messy. dairy i but it is changing. but that i change is messy. dairy farmer sophie spent much of the last few months on huge protest marches, leaving her pampered dairy herd to demonstrate against cheap foreign imports and against new eu rules to tackle climate change. as you can imagine... she's a big fan of butter in her croissant. but she is worried about the future. translation: i have grandchildren. so, iwant what's best for the planet. but you can'tjust blame everything

on farmers. in you can'tjust blame everything on farmers-— you can'tjust blame everything on farmers. in her view, people need to eat _ on farmers. in her view, people need to eat local— on farmers. in her view, people need to eat local produce i on farmers. in her view, people need to eat local produce to i need to eat local produce to cut out the big multinational firms taking all the profits. transforming french food culture is going to take a long time. but there are plenty of people leading the way. in bakeries, on farms and in high—end restaurants like this one. in her kitchen, this chef has already made waves for hiring almost only women — challenging a still male—dominated industry. but she's also trying to nudge her customers away from meat, tackling another culinary tradition head—on. tackling another culinary tradition head-on. french tradition _ tradition head-on. french tradition is _ tradition head-on. french tradition is quite - tradition head-on. french tradition is quite heavy. l tradition head-on. frenchl tradition is quite heavy. so tradition head-on. french i tradition is quite heavy. so we need to... sometimes we need to have some radical ideas to change. at have some radical ideas to chance. �* ., ., change. a little revolution! yes, kind _ change. a little revolution! yes, kind of! _ change. a little revolution! yes, kind of! but _ change. a little revolution! yes, kind of! but these i yes, kind of! but these parisians _ yes, kind of! but these parisians are _ yes, kind of! but these parisians are not i yes, kind of! but these parisians are not yet i yes, kind of! but these i parisians are not yet ready for

another revolution. they've come to judge the city's croissants. every pastry rich with dairy butter. shill croissants. every pastry rich with dairy butter.— with dairy butter. all of that buttery flavour _ with dairy butter. all of that buttery flavour going - with dairy butter. all of that buttery flavour going into i with dairy butter. all of that| buttery flavour going into it. that's what makes it wonderful and dreamy. that's what makes it wonderful and dreamy-— that's what makes it wonderful and dreamy. that's what makes it wonderful and dream . ., , ., and dreamy. the vegan version - not even under _ and dreamy. the vegan version - not even under consideration. i now to the world of music —— as two of hip—hop's biggest names have been getting personal on simultaneously released �*diss' tracks. the feud between kendrick lamar and drake goes back years — and it continued on friday with new songs that include allegations of domestic violence and secret children. in drake's track — family matters — he suggests that one of lamar�*s children was fathered by another man. lamar responded less than 30 minutes later with meet the grahams, a track referencing drake's last name. in that song, lamar alleges that drake has been hiding an unidentified 11—year—old daughter. take a listen. # yeah, baby girl

# yeah, baby girl # i'm sorry that your father not active in the world # he don't commit to anything but his music # that's for sure # that's for sure # living inside the families # living inside the families # rather than taking care of the song. the feud between drake and kendrick is a long line of that. and while artists often trade blows on hip—hop tracks, sometimes past rivalries have ended in tragedy. in the 1990s, rappers tupac shakur and the notorious b—i—g were each gunned down within six months of each other, after a rivalry escalated into an intense dispute between east and west coasts. music critics believe the clash between drake and kendrick isn't over yet. on saturday, kendrick released yet another track in which he suggests he has more to say about his rival. for more on all this, i spoke to carl lamarre, the deputy director of r&b and hip—hop at billboard. thank you so much forjoining us here on the bbc. first of all, can you just remind us —

how this beef between kendrick lamar and how this beef between kendrick lamarand drake how this beef between kendrick lamar and drake got started. because these are two hip—hop artists who used to be if not friends, at least collaborators in the past?— in the past? definitely, they were collaborators. - in the past? definitely, they were collaborators. drake i were collaborators. drake brought kendrick on tour. he had kendrick featured on the album in 2011 for take care. kendrick returned it and had drake feature on poetic justice. there was some sense of coolness there, until kendrick 2013 put out that atomic bomb with control. and that's when he said everybody�*s name — all of his contemporaries, drake, pusher. the, xtodd the creator. but that pushed drake the wrong way. and this has been a simmering beef for ten years where they were throwing sublimb inials at each other and everything came to a head when kendrick teamed up with future metro booming which ended up at the billboard hot

100 for three weeks. and kendrick had a searing verse targeting drake and j—cole and re—igniting the feud that everybody in hip—hop has been waiting for. everybody in hip-hop has been waiting for-— waiting for. you said that this has been _ waiting for. you said that this has been simmering - waiting for. you said that this has been simmering for i waiting for. you said that this has been simmering for a i waiting for. you said that this i has been simmering for a while, but this exploded over the last couple of weeks. what of the trigger for that?— couple of weeks. what of the trigger for that? yeah, i think it was the _ trigger for that? yeah, i think it was the like _ trigger for that? yeah, i think it was the like that _ trigger for that? yeah, i think it was the like that record i it was the like that record that kendrick was featured on with metro booming and future, when he took shots at drake, took shots atjcole. and, of course, drake being the combat warrior that he is, felt the need to respond. jcole initially responded but then withdrew. and he said that this was disturbing his spirit and peace. he had a whole track that addressed lamar. but then he took out the battle and took out the track leaving the two heavyweights to combat with each other. shortly after seven minute drill came out, drake went on a fiery run, dropped his first record which was push

ups and then shortly after that, a freestyle, kind of baiting kendrick to come out of hiding since it was some time since the like that record and kendrick said anything. and low and behold, this week, we nottingham one, not two, not three — but four diss tracks from kendrick lamar. that's a lot in one sitting, in one week to take. you don't even see fourin to take. you don't even see four in a battle.— to take. you don't even see four in a battle. and hip-hop obviously — four in a battle. and hip-hop obviously has _ four in a battle. and hip-hop obviously has a _ four in a battle. and hip-hop obviously has a long - four in a battle. and hip-hop| obviously has a long tradition of the battles and beefs between different rappers. this really, though, goes beyond just who's the better lyricist, who's the better hip—hop artist. some of the diss tracks that you mentioned are cutting deep. this is getting very personal now, isn't it? no, it is. and personal now, isn't it? no, it is- and i _ personal now, isn't it? no, it is. and i think— personal now, isn't it? no, it is. and | thinkthat _ personal now, isn't it? no, it is. and i think that drake i personal now, isn't it? no, it| is. and i think that drake was really the one who ignited the whole fire. when on push ups, he named kendrick lamar�*s wife, whitney. and, of course, when family, when friends, when deep associates with there, that anticipates when things get sticky and messy, which led to

a lot of scathing claims and allegations. i know drake had made claims that kendrick lamar�*s manager, dave free, or his business associate, had slept with kendrick�*s wife. you know, these kind of allegations. and now the kids are getting involved, where names are being thrown out there. where kendrick lamar addressed drake's son, adonis, on a recent diss track called meet the grahams. that's my biggest concern in hip—hop. it's all good when things are strictly kept on wax, when everything is lyrical. but when things start cutting deep and getting personal as we've seen in the past, that's when a lot of turmoil and violence ensues. so ijust hope that it is strictly staying on wax. nothing more than two titans going at it on some lyrical tracks — nothing more. going at it on some lyrical tracks - nothing more. how do ou tracks - nothing more. how do you think _ tracks - nothing more. how do you think that _ tracks - nothing more. how do you think that this _ tracks - nothing more. how do you think that this ends, i tracks - nothing more. how do| you think that this ends, then? we've seen many different battles. if you look back at the 1990s, some violence was

associated with it. we saw tupac and biggie getting into it. both of them ended up dying much younger than they should have. i'm not trying to say that this is where this is going to go. but how do you think that this particular feud right end? i think that this particular feud right end?— think that this particular feud right end? i mean, if you talk to a lot of _ right end? i mean, if you talk to a lot of my _ right end? i mean, if you talk to a lot of my colleagues, i right end? i mean, if you talk to a lot of my colleagues, a l to a lot of my colleagues, a lot of fans, i had tweeted this earlier this morning. made it like a sports metaphor. right now, we're in the fourth quarter. kendrick is up 15 with six minutes left.— quarter. kendrick is up 15 with six minutes left. fiiq and i six minutes left. ok! and i don't see _ six minutes left. ok! and i don't see this _ six minutes left. ok! and i don't see this at _ six minutes left. 0k! and i don't see this at all getting violent. but, ithink don't see this at all getting violent. but, i think for violent. but, ithink for drake, his ego, his title violent. but, i think for drake, his ego, his title of being this hip—hop danos, his reign, may potentially take a hit, where if he doesn'tjust come up with something just as scathing, something just as atomic as kendrick did, then you know, his standing in hip—hop is going to take a decent amount of hits. mainly because he lost to pusher. the

just a couple of years ago and people were already debating drake's massy because of the ghost writing allegations. now him taking another loss and him suffering with this will do some damage in the hip—hop standings. but overall, i think in terms of his mainstream audience, people are still going to go to the show. i know i am! people are still going to stream the albums. i know i am! but i think that the debate of who is the leader of the big three — if drake doesn't come with the necessary come back, then kendrick, the throne is his! ii then kendrick, the throne is his! . , �* his! if anything, it hasn't been bad _ his! if anything, it hasn't been bad for _ his! if anything, it hasn't been bad for business i his! if anything, it hasn't| been bad for business for either one of them, has it! thank you very much. madonna had a huge concert in rio dejaneiro with one and a half million people. a warning, there are some flashing images

in the following pictures. it is a madonna concert. # nothing really matters. # this was billed as a thank you to the fans for decades of support and it marks the end of her celebration world tour, which began back in october last year. that's the end of the programme, plenty more coming up at the top of the hour. stay with us on bbc news. hello. so far, this bank holiday weekend has been a decidedly mixed affair. some spells of warm sunshine, but also some really heavy downpours. we saw some flash flooding in parts of eastern scotland during sunday. you can see the showers and thunderstorms that erupted here through the day. quite slow moving, actually, not much wind to push these showers and storms along. one or two locations had close to half a month's worth of rain in the space ofjust a few hours. we are currently in the grip of this fairly weak and fairly flabby area of low pressure.

so not much winds with that low to push the showers around where they do crop up again on bank holiday monday, they will be heavy, quite slow moving, but with some spells of sunshine in between. this is how we start the day. the southern half of the uk seeing some areas of mist and fog, some sunny spells developing, but some rain across the south east of england and east anglia. northern ireland and scotland keeping quite a lot of clouds still with some hefty showers across some central and eastern parts of scotland. by the middle of the afternoon, parts of east anglia and the southeast seeing outbreaks of rain, elsewhere through the south west of england into wales, the midlands and northern england. that mix of sunny spells and heavy, possibly thundery showers. those showers quite slow moving, but the sunniest spot seeing highs of 19 or 20 degrees. more cloud for northern ireland, but largely dry. still some hefty showers across southern and eastern scotland. further north and west, something drier and in places a little bit brighter. now, as we head through monday night, the showers should slowly but surely fade away in most locations. we'll keep some fairly large amounts of cloud, perhaps some mist

patches here and there. temperatures generally holding up between six and ten degrees. now, more showers in the forecast for tuesday, but they shouldn't be as widespread and on the whole, they shouldn't be quite as heavy. so mainly fine to start off, some fairly large amounts of cloud, spells of sunshine, some of those showers getting going through the day, particularly across parts of england and wales. but in the sunny spots, those temperatures again up to around 20 degrees celsius. that is a sign of things to come because as we head deeper into the week, high pressure builds a little more strongly. we'll still see frontal systems to the north of the uk. so a bit of rain at times, particularly across parts of scotland. but further south it stays mostly dry. some spells of sunshine, temperatures climbing, seeing highs of around 21 to 22, maybe 23 degrees.

high stakes diplomacy — china's president has arrived in europe with trade on the top of his agenda. from london to paris and beyond, we'll look at the successes of a network connecting the uk to europe. hello. welcome to asia business report with me, steve lai.

now, china's president, xijinping, has kicked off his first trip to europe in five years. he's arrived in france and will make stops in serbia and hungary later this week. his visit comes as some countries in europe are taking action over what they perceive to be anticompetitive practises by china. our business reporter david wadell has more. president xi arrived to the orly airport in paris with his wife, pen liyuan. france is the only major eu country on the tour which will also include serbia and hungary. here at the airport, he was greeted by france's prime minister, gabriel attal. he'll also be meeting a man with whom he has very warm relations and that is the french president. president xi hosted president macron at the chinese city of guangzhou last year where president macron was rapturously received and president macron will be hosting his chinese counterpart in the pyrenees — a place where he spent much time as a boy

visiting his grandmother.